Report shows Australia needs a plan for social housing

14/07/2023

National housing campaign Everybody’s Home warns the rental crisis will continue without a significant increase in social housing, as new figures show persistently slow growth.

Data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare shows between 2006 and 2022, social housing stock grew by just 36,200 dwellings – that’s about 2,260 homes each year.

The figures over the same period show just how much Federal Governments have walked away from providing homes, with Australia losing 43,800 public dwellings.

Everybody’s Home spokesperson Maiy Azize said supply of social and affordable homes is nowhere near keeping up with demand. 

“Every year, we are getting further behind on social housing. With sky-high need and long waiting lists, it’s not hard to see how we ended up in this housing crisis,” Ms Azize said.

“Our social housing shortfall is massive. Australia needs 640,000 homes for people experiencing homelessness and extreme housing stress. But these numbers show that the shortfall is getting worse, not better.

“With so many people in extreme housing stress, competition for rentals is fierce. We need the Federal Government to step up and make a plan to end the social housing shortfall.

“We are calling on the Federal Government to build at least 25,000 social homes each year to end the shortfall and tackle rental stress.”

Meanwhile, the report also shows that almost one in two people who received Commonwealth Rent Assistance in 2022 were still in rental stress after getting the payment.

“Commonwealth Rental Assistance is leaving people behind. People on the lowest incomes are not eligible for help – only one in three people on JobSeeker can get the payment and those who do are still in rental stress. The recent increase to the payment must be followed by a plan to fix it so that it goes to people who need it and keeps them out of rental stress.” 

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